Spontaneous damage annealing reactions as a possible source of low energy excess in semiconductor detectors

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Nordlund, Kai, Kong, Fanhao, Djurabekova, Flyura, Heikinheimo, Matti, Tuominen, Kimmo, Mirabolfathi, Nader, Kuronen, Antti
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Nordlund, Kai
Kong, Fanhao
Djurabekova, Flyura
Heikinheimo, Matti
Tuominen, Kimmo
Mirabolfathi, Nader
Kuronen, Antti
author_facet Nordlund, Kai
Kong, Fanhao
Djurabekova, Flyura
Heikinheimo, Matti
Tuominen, Kimmo
Mirabolfathi, Nader
Kuronen, Antti
contents In semiconductor detectors designed for capturing dark matter particles or neutrinos, when the detection threshold is constantly improved to increasingly low energies, an "excess" signal of apparent energy release events below a few hundred eV is observed in several different kinds of detectors. This becomes a big obstacle to the observation of actual dark matter signals, hindering the detectors' sensitivity for rare events in this energy range. Using atomistic simulations with a classical thermostat and a quantum thermal bath, we show that this kind of signal is consistent with energy release from long-term annealing events of complex defects that can be formed by any kind of nuclear recoil radiation events. Such energy releases are shown to have a very similar exponential dependence on energy release magnitudes as that observed in experiments. By detailed analysis of the annealing events, we show that crossing very low energy barriers can trigger larger energy releases in an avalanche-like effect. This explains why large energy release events can occur even down to cryogenic temperatures, where the significant migration of point defects in silicon is hardly ever possible.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_07518
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spontaneous damage annealing reactions as a possible source of low energy excess in semiconductor detectors
Nordlund, Kai
Kong, Fanhao
Djurabekova, Flyura
Heikinheimo, Matti
Tuominen, Kimmo
Mirabolfathi, Nader
Kuronen, Antti
Materials Science
High Energy Physics - Experiment
In semiconductor detectors designed for capturing dark matter particles or neutrinos, when the detection threshold is constantly improved to increasingly low energies, an "excess" signal of apparent energy release events below a few hundred eV is observed in several different kinds of detectors. This becomes a big obstacle to the observation of actual dark matter signals, hindering the detectors' sensitivity for rare events in this energy range. Using atomistic simulations with a classical thermostat and a quantum thermal bath, we show that this kind of signal is consistent with energy release from long-term annealing events of complex defects that can be formed by any kind of nuclear recoil radiation events. Such energy releases are shown to have a very similar exponential dependence on energy release magnitudes as that observed in experiments. By detailed analysis of the annealing events, we show that crossing very low energy barriers can trigger larger energy releases in an avalanche-like effect. This explains why large energy release events can occur even down to cryogenic temperatures, where the significant migration of point defects in silicon is hardly ever possible.
title Spontaneous damage annealing reactions as a possible source of low energy excess in semiconductor detectors
topic Materials Science
High Energy Physics - Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.07518